I love face masks. If you've read this blog for a while, or if you follow me on instagram, you'll know this already. They're my little luxury, the non-negotiable break I give myself twice a week to just lie back, relax and let my face be pampered a little.

So whenever I get the chance to try out something different, I'm immediately up for it, which is how I came across my latest discovery: the Marine Moisture Mask from Procoal.

Procoal itself is a new brand for me but I'm really happy I've found them because they focus on making sure the ingredients in their products are as traceable and ethically-sourced as possible, and they're a cruelty free brand (no animal testing) which I love! Their product range currently consists of teeth whitening products, a charcoal face mask, this sheet mask, shampoo bars, and a natural deodorant.

The Marine Moisture Mask is all about hydration. It's free from parabens, pigments, silicones and mineral oils.. YAY.. and is formulated in the UK.

It contains nutrient-rich Marine ferments which provide antioxidants and helps the skin retain the moisture boost from the other ingredients such as Pro-Vitamin B5 and botanical extracts, along with aloe vera to keep skin soothed and soft. While the charcoal elements help to keep skin clear and blemish free.

Each mask contains around 25g of serum, which is a lot, so your skin gets a real hit of hydration in one go.

All-in-all, I couldn't wait to try it out and was looking forward to my 20 minutes of relaxtion.

After cleansing and drying my face, I removed the mask from the sachet and was surprised to see that it was black in colour; then reminded myself it was a charcoal mask, so duh. After carefully unfolding the mask was pretty easy to get into place and fit pretty well.

I then lay back and listened to a podcast for 20 minutes while my skin felt instantly soothed and refreshed underneath the mask.

After removing, there was a bit of serum left on my face, but not too much to be annoying, which I simply massaged into my skin and rubbed the leftovers on my hands onto my cuticles because they're always dry at this time of year!

My skin felt immediately hydrated and supple after using the mask, with a definite improvement in radiance. I used it before bed and the next morning a couple of blemishes that had been starting to show were virtually invisible and my skin still had a nice moisturised glow.

With 4 masks in a pack, I'm already looking forward to using it again tomorrow (face mask nights are Tuesday and Fridays for me) and will definitely be repurchasing when I've run out. At a current price of £13.99 for 4, it's a great deal and well worth it!

• Hydrated skin? ✔
• Radiant skin? ✔
• Soft and supple? ✔
• Blemishes reduced and skin clearer? ✔

I really can't say enough good things about the Procoal Marine Moisture Mask, it's lovely to use and made a visible difference to my skin. What more could you want?

You can buy the mask here: https://procoal.co.uk/products/moisturising-sheet-mask

Let me know in the comments below if you've tried anything from Procoal, or if you have a favourite face mask you think I should know about!

Stay safe, x

Where to start? That's the question I'm asking myself both about the writing of this post and the topic it's about. I've written before about my struggles with joint hypermobility, and by extension, chronic pain and the effect that has on my fluctuating fitness and exercise capabilities. This is kind of like that, but with a little extra...

But maybe that's a good place to begin... my joints are dodgy and they hurt.

I have joint hypermobility, technically it's part of wider condition (EDS) but it's my joints that suffer the most. My connective tissues; ligaments, muscles, tendons, don't quite work the way they should and a too loose, so my joints dislocate almost at will and I get a lot of soft tissue injuries. This means pain. A lot of it. All the time. I haven't had a day without pain since before I was a teenager, and that was a long time ago. I wake up in pain. I will literally wake up with an injury most people only experience after pushing too hard in the gym, because that's just what my body does apparently.

There's no cure, there's no fix or magic trick, it's just about management. Working to lessen what already hurts and limit further damage or strain.

For example, I love yoga. It grounds me, it makes my mind shut up and it lessens some of the pain I feel. But it can also be detrimental in the long term for me.. if I hold a stretch too long, I'm pushing my already loose tissues too far, if I do the wrong stretch something pops out of place, etc.

So one of my targets for this year is to find a way of doing yoga and still keeping all of the benefits while being aware of the issues it could cause me and trying to mitigate them. Hatha yoga is slower so it's a better option for me. Iyengar yoga is ok but I have to physically hold myself back from going fully into the poses because I overextend without realising, it's the same with Yin yoga. If there's sharp or fast movements or transitions it's a straight no from me, and I've moved the focus away from flexibility (I have too much of that) and onto the things I need: strength, stability and balance, 3 things which will help and improve my joints not hurt them.

I'm also going to look at other exercise options that have the lowest chance of increasing pain, while strengthening my joints and more effective ways of dealing with the pain in the first place (painkillers have little effect with me).

So physically I have a whole list of things I want to try out this year, and I'm looking forward to sharing with you guys what works, what could work with tweaks and what gets a no from me.

But it's also going to be a year when I finally give my mind the attention it deserves, because surprise surprise my mental health is intrinsically linked to my physical health. I have anxiety and depression so I'll be looking for effective ways to lessen their impact (I don't believe you ever remove them) and again, I'll be sharing that here.

I titled this "Fit For Me" because that's what this series of posts over the next 12 months will be... the things that help me feel better and that improve my overall health. Hopefully, it might help some of you too.

If you have any tips or anything in particular you think I should try, then drop me a comment down below!

Stay safe, x

While I was browsing the post-Christmas sales, I stumbled across this "shower and shave" mousse from Dove, and I was intrigued.

How could something work as both a body cleanser and a shaving foam, without being either sticky or useless? So, naturally, I decided to give it a go.

The Dove Rose Oil Shower and Shave mousse is rose scented and contains essential oils that aim to give you 24 hours of soft skin and a little bit of luxury in the shower.

First things first, the smell is gorgeous. I'm already pretty hooked on most rose scented things anyway, as it's a naturally calming fragrance for me, but this is perfectly formulated; it's strong but not overpowering and it smells natural.

It dispenses exactly like shaving foams do and I found the best way to use it was to spray it into the palm of my hand before rubbing onto my body and then scrubbing with my shower-puff-thing (do they have a name?). You can see how it comes out below:

Once it's on your skin, it doesn't really lather up all that much but it does cleanse nicely and leaves skin feeling soft and smooth, with no signs of the stickiness that I was dreading.

As a shaving foam, it works equally well, it smooths on easily, my razor had no issues and I avoided cutting myself (yay), and it then rinses off well, again with no stickiness.

After drying, I found my skin smelled great and felt clean, but still nice and soft. After repeated uses, it hasn't dried out my skin (another concern I had) and continues to work well.

Overall, I like the Dove Rose Oil Shower and Shave Mousse, it does both of the things it's designed for well with no drawbacks, plus it takes up less space in my shower, so I'll definitely keep using it and buy it again.

The mousse does come in two other options; Argan Oil and Coconut Oil, and you can find out more and see where you can purchase it here:www.dove.com/uk/washing-and-bathing/body-wash/rose-oil-shower-and-shave-mousse.html

If you decide to give it a go, I'd love to know what you think so please drop me a comment down below, or if you have any recommendations for similar products share those too!

Stay safe, x